Display case and removable container therefor



Auglzl, 41951 H. c. HOLDERLE ETAL 2,564,807

DISPLAY CASE AND REMOVABLE CONTAINER THEREFOR Filed Jan. 20, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 1 I 6 v y INVENTOR I THEIR ATTORNEQ 1951 H. c. HOLDERLE ETAL 2,564,807

DISPLAY CASE AND REMOVABLE CONTAINER THEREFOR Filed Jan. 20, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 2 THE/R ATTORNEY l atentecl Aug.

* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,564.86? fii'sPL first: ANDZEMOYABLEGONTAINER THEBEFQR Harvey iiolderle; firederi cl;

erick W.; Ijolderle, and

ester, N. Y.-

Carl L. Holderle, Roch- This' inventionrel'ates' to a display case andremovable container therefor; and has for its purpose to afiord apractical form (if fnerchan dis'e container that is positionable andreadily accessible within the case and from which the contents may beeasily taken to fill crders} the container being quicklyan'dconveniently removable from the case when empty and ready to berefilled.

Heretofore in merchandising candy, the general practice has been toplacethe' candy in receptacles or between partitions" fixed withintheicase, which has made it diificult to keep the display case clean andsanitary and also troublesome to refill when the supply withinthe caseis exhausted, and where removable containers have been placedwithinthecase, it has not been easy toremove the contents from" thecontainers" when located within the case, and it is a particular purposeof the invention to afford acontainer that is easily accessible torer'ndve its contentswhen-pm sitioned within the display case,whichc'anreadily be moved to any location in'the candy case, and whichcan quickly be removed when empty and taken to the stockroom to permitcleaning'and refilling in a convenient manner, thus" eliminatingthenecessity of handling thecandy several times.

More particularly the invention is intended to provide a container thatis easily removable from a display case and is constructed in such-a wayas to utilize a maximum capacity ofthe"ca'se;- the containerbeingprovid'e'd with a movable cover arranged to be locked overth'efilling opening when the container is filled and being transported'fromone point to another and to be positioned-on top of the container soasn'ot' to interfere with removal of its contents when th'e'conta'ineris positioned within the display case;

To these and 'other'ends', theinvention'cbnsists in the construction"and arrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the"followingdescription when read in conjunction'with the acis a viewsiaeeisvaeoa s showing the cover closedlin full;line s,-- an d dottedlines a position of the cover as it is moved from closed to openposition; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view i .v 4. Fig; 6 is a rearelevation of thelcontainer illustrated in" Figs. 3 and 4," partiallybroken away, and Fig; 7 is a detail sectional view on line 11 of Fig.6.p g

The invention-sisillustrated in connection with a display case suchasillustrated; in co pending application" Serial No. 139,753, filed1Ja,nualy 0, 1950,1and including abase having attachedthereto a bottomwall I with an abutment Zat itsfront portion; and a lower channelincluding a rear inclined portion 3,- bottom 4, andyertical frontportion 5, while 6 designates the topwalloi the display case including adepending front portion l'which carries an upper channel including aninclined bottom wall 8, rear inclined wall ;9, and inclined front wallID; the top wall oi the case and the walls forming thetop channel beingsupported by suitable uprights or standards H attached to the base inany convenient way. h I I The front of the display case is openbetweenthe upper and lower channels just described, and I2 indicates oneof aseries of removable closures for said-opening; each closure comprisingcareceptacle with a removable cover adapted toreceive merchandise fordisplay purposesand to be detachably arranged between theupper and lowerchannels and constitute a'removable front wall or panel for the displaycase. p n c Theremovable closure receptacle justdescribed isdesigned toreceive and'display candy orother merchandise contained within thecaseand this application relates" more particularly to a containerremovably located within: the case and adapted to carry a sup'ply ofcandy or; other merchandise correspondingto that; displayed inone ormore of the receptacles l2 behind which the container would normally bepositionedg I 3 designates an' upstanding p'ortion' at'the' rear of thebottom wall I, forming a stop against which a slidable 'door, not shown;can travel; the door being supported and movable-in a" suitable track l'tatthe top; the slidable door supporting on line 5 5' of means at therear of the display'case constitutiiig no part of the invention andbeing old in the art; Removals-1y" positionable within theid'isplay caseis a'metal container includiiiga front wall having a vertical portionI5'eng' a'geable with the abutment 2", and'an upw'ardly andrearwardlyinclined portion 16- thatconnec'tswith a horizontal top wall l1, whilethe bottom wall of the container includes a horizontal portion [8terminating in an upwardly inclined rear portion [9, the containerincluding side walls 20 to which top, bottom, and front walls areattached in any convenient manner.

The top wall I! is provided a its rear edge with a supporting rod 2i theends of which extend somewhat beyond the side walls of the container toafford trunnions, the rod 2l being attached to the top wall in anysuitable fashion, and the upwardly inclined rear part 19 of the bottomwall is likewise provided with a supporting rod 22 attached thereto inany suitable fashion and having end portions or trunnions which extendbeyond the side walls of the container as shown.

can then be cleaned and filled to the desired level with candy or othermerchandise after which the cover is closed to prevent loss of thecontents while carryingthe container to the display case. The containeris then positioned in the case in the manner shown in Fig. l, with itsfront vertical wall l5 engaging the abutment 2 at the forward part ofthe display case to limit movement of and position the container whilethe rear part of the container can be moved downwardly in front of theupstanding wall or portion 13 at the rear of the display case, as shownin Fig. l, the container The container is accessible through the openingat its rear between the top and bottom walls and is provided with acover that is movably associated with the container and adapted to bemoved to uncover the opening at the rear of the container, when locatedin the display case, or to be locked in closed position over the openingwhen carrying the filled container from a storeroom to the display case.a

To accomplish these objectives, there is provided a cover, as indicatedat 23, provided atopposite side edges with channels 24 which embrace thetrunnions or ends of rod 2|, while 25 designates an inwardly bent flangeat the front or upper end of the cover adapted to overlie the rearportion of the top wall and rod 21 to limit downward movement of thecover when the latter is in closed position as shown in Fig. 4 in fulllines. Thus the cover can pivot and slide on the trunnions or terminalportions of the rod 2| and is movable from its horizontal positionoverlying the top wall IT, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, to itslowered position as illustrated in Fig. 4, in which the container isclosed by the cover.

When closing the cover, it is swung as indicated the container, thecover must first be moved in a vertical direction far enough todisengage the channels 24 from the ends of the lower rod 22, after whichthe cover can be swung upwardly to its horizontal position and movedforwardly over the top wall I! to the position shown in dotted lines inFig. 1.

26 designates a flange or stop portion carried by the inner surface ofthe cover and cooperating with the top and bottom walls of the containerto limit forward and downward movement respectively of the cover, while21 designates a handle portion on the outer surface of the cover formanipulating the same to either of its positions.

The upwardly and rearwardly inclined front wall I6 of the containerconforms generally to the inclination of the front panel or receptaclel2 so that the container can utilize the capacity of the case to amaximum for holding merchandise while the inclined rear portion I9 ofthe bottom wall of the container enables readily scooping candy or likemerchandise from the container.

It will be understood that when a container is empty, it is removed fromthe display case and being thus held in the case against accidentaldisplacement and requiring upward movement at its rear before removal.

After the container is thus positioned, the cover can be moved upwardlyand swung about the top wall I 1 in the manner indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 4 and then moved forwardly to the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 1 so that the contents of the container are readily accessiblefrom the rear of the display case, which is protected by the usualsliding doors not shown, the arrangement being such that the position ofthe container does not interfere with the normal movement of the slidingdoors. The container cover can be left in its uppermost position whilethe container is in the case, and it is not necessary to lower the coveruntil the container is to be removed to receive a fresh supply ofmerchandise, although if desirable, the cover can be moved into positionto close the container and protect its contents while the container islocated within the display case.

While the invention has been described with reference to the particularconstruction herein disclosed, it is not confined to the detailsillustrated and this application is intended to cover such changes ormodifications as may come within the purposes of the invention and thescope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. The combination with a display case, of a removable containerincluding a horizontal top wall having a supporting rod attached at itsrear and extending beyond the side edges of said top wall, a bottom wallincluding a horizontal portion and an upwardly inclined portion at therear thereof, and a cover having means at opposite sides pivotally andslidably supported on the ends of said rod and movable from a positionoverlying said top wall by a swinging and downwardly sliding motion to aposition interlocked with said upwardly inclined portion of the bottomwall, the cover when in said last mentioned position being held againstswinging movement until first moved vertically by sliding.

2. The combination with a display case, of a container removablypositionable within said display case and including a top wall having asupporting rod attached at its rear and extending beyond the side edgesof said top wall, a bottom wall including a horizontal portion and anupwardly inclined rear portion, a supporting rod attached to the rear ofsaid upwardly inclined portion and extending beyond the side edgesthereof, a cover having channels at opposite sides slidably andpivotally supported on the ends of said upper rod and slidablyengageable with the ends of said lower rod, and means in the displaycase engaging and limiting movement of the container.

3. The combination with a display case, of a container having ahorizontal top wall having a supporting rod attached at its rear andextending beyond the side edges of said top wall, a bottom wallincluding a horizontal portion and an upwardly inclined portion at therear thereof, a supporting rod attached to the rear of said upwardlyinclined portion and extending beyond the side edges thereof, and acover having means at opposite sides pivotally and slidably supported onthe ends of said rod and movable to a position overlying said top wallor by a swinging and downwardly sliding motion to a position in rear ofsaid upwardly inclined portion of said bottom wall, said means on thecover being engageable with the ends of said rod on the upwardlyinclined portion and acting to prevent swinging movement of the coverwhen in said rear position until it is first moved vertically bysliding.

4. The combination with a display case, of a receptacle removablypositionable in the case and including a horizontal top wall having arod attached at the rear edge thereof and extending beyond the sideedges of said top wall, a bottom wall having a rod secured at the rearedge thereof and extending beyond the side edges of the bottom wall, anda cover having channels at its sides slidably and pivotally engaging theends of said first mentioned rod in the top wall and slid- 6 ablyengageable with the ends of said rod in sai bottom Wall to interlocktherewith, said cover being positionable by a pivotal and sliding movement either overlying said top wall or in rear of and interlocked withsaid bottom wall, and means on the cover engageable with said top andbottom Walls acting to limit movement of the cover in either direction.

HARVEY C. HOLDER FREDERICK S. HOLDERLE. FREDERICK W. I-IOLDERLE. CARL L.HOLDERLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 845,829 Tacke Mar. 5, 19071,261,455 Stallings Apr. 2, 1918 1,264,258 Bekkering Apr. 30, 19181,845,385 Zelenka Feb. 16, 1932 2,049,140 Schick July 28, 1936 2,241,884Noble May 13, 1941 2,490,939 Aldrich Dec. 13, 1949

